Against All Odds
by Illuminatus247
Summary: Percy Jackson: the world famous German soccer player. Annabeth Chase: mysterious waitress at night shift in one of the poshest hotels of Manhattan. Percy loves her at first sight. But does Annabeth? There are issues: the press, the team and above all Percy's fiance Sienna.


_**I was sort of obsessed with Germany so that's how I got this story idea.**_ _**And of course the magic words: Percabeth is so adorable! And doesn't Greece seem so mysterious and ancient to you? I would love to go there.**_

"Mr. Jackson, your suite number is 2020, and it is one of our unique penthouse suits. Is that OK for you and your team? You and your team shall be on the 20th floor," the receptionist was saying. She was a dark haired, blue eyed lady.

"Yes, of course," I said.

"Mr. Jackson, one more thing."

"Yes?"

"Can I have a photo with you?" the lady said, blushing.

"Of course," I said. He didn't mind his fans. Some of them were really nice.

They posed for a photo and I and the team went upstairs. We all piled into the lift. I and my team were the soccer stars of the world right now. The star players of the FIFA world cup who had just won the cup. So, as a victory tour, we had come to New York.

The lift halted at the 5th floor. Then a blonde haired, grey eyed girl came in, holding a broom. There was very little room in the lift, so the lady was crushed against me.

But I had lost the ability to speak. Her eyes.

They had an unexpected spark in them. Such a beautiful grey. They were a sparkling grey. I always hated grey eyes because they were so bland. But these eyes seemed to tell you never to cross them. They were calculating and analyzing a million things at once. They were a thunderstorm grey.

I was falling in love with those eyes—

Wait what? She was just a hotel maid! Clear up! I told my brain. I had turned a fiery shade of red by now. For no reason at all. Would this elevator ride never end?

Finally, a million years later, the elevator halted on the 20th floor, the top floor. The girl also got down there, but walked to the corridor opposite her. My eyes followed her to the door she knocked on. "Percy, man? You okay?" Beckendorf said. He was one of the team mates.

"What?" I said jumping. I had forgotten about everything. The victory, my team mates, everyone. The lady downstairs and the photo had seemed an eternity away. "I'm okay," I said to him. "Just a little tired."

"I'm tired, too," said Jason, another great teammate.

"Let's meet at eight tomorrow at breakfast, at the courtyard café," said Travis and Connor, the twins.

We all agreed and went to sleep. I couldn't sleep. I kept on thinking about how the eyes had pierced me. They had taken my very soul. Her blonde hair falling over her face was so—

Stop it! Stupid mind!

Finally, around three, I decided that I wouldn't be able to sleep. So I stood up and paced my room for the rest of the night, feeling that this room was a cage. Finally, eight rolled by. I stood up and nearly ran out of the room, dressed. I sped to the courtyard café. I was the first. How idiotic of me to think that my friends would come early.

"Would you like anything, sir?" said a sweet voice. I looked up and nearly choked on my own breath. It was the girl.

"No, I'm good. But my friends will be coming soon. We'll order together, Ms.—" I paused.

"Annabeth, Annabeth Chase," she said. Then her brow furrowed. "Aren't you the soccer star?"

"Um, yes?" I tried to be assertive, but it came out a question.

She laughed. "Oh, okay." And she went away.

"Dude, were you just flirting with her?" Leo asked, sliding next to me. The rest of the team piled in.

My face turned a crimson red. "What? No! I was just being polite!" I half-shouted. "I don't like her!"

"Too bad man, it sounds like a guilty conscience now. Who said you liked her?" said Travis grinned at me.

"I—ugh—you are so—whatever!" I stuttered out. Very smooth, very smooth.

"Anything I can do for you?" Annabeth was here again.

"Yes, please. Note down our orders," Jason said, sounding commanding. Sometimes I thought that he should be the captain instead of me. He ordered the breakfast. "Percy, honestly." He sounded disapproving. "You have a fiancé. And you are supposed to call her."

"Oh, hell!" I cursed. "I forgot!"

"Percy," Jason said, rolling his eyes. Travis, Beckendorf, Leo, Connor, Nico and Frank laughed.

I called her. I had completely forgotten about Sienna, my fiancé. This was stupid. She would be mad. "Hello," I said.

"Percy!" she said. "Where the hell are you?"

"I've reached safely. How are you?" I said to her.

"Worried! Why didn't you call me?" Sienna said.

"I forgot," I mumbled.

"How could you forget?" she shouted into the phone. I winced. "I was going to tell you some good news. I am going to come there. Then we can enjoy together!"

"Why?' I blurted out.

"Is there a problem if I come there?" she said, her voice menacing.

At that moment, Annabeth arrived with our breakfast. "Call on me if you need anything else," she said in a sweet voice. Unfortunately, my phone could pick up sounds from a meter away.

"Percy? Who else is there?" Sienna asked.

"No one," I said quickly.

At that moment, Annabeth was called again and she said, "Anything else you need me for?"

"Percy, stop lying," Sienna said.

"I'm not! It's just Annabeth!" I said.

"Already on first names, are we? She sounds like a blond bimbo," Sienna said.

"Sienna, she's not. She's very—" I paused, unsure of what to say. I didn't know Annabeth at all. "She's very nice," I completed.

"And who exactly is she?"

"She's our waitress."

"Really?" her voice was disbelieving. "Hell, Percy, I thought that you had changed. Apparently not." She put down the phone.

"Fuck." I put down the phone.

"Didn't go very nicely?" Jason said.

I nodded. "Well guys, I really don't want breakfast. See ya later. What are we doing today?"

"Well, sightseeing starts tomorrow. Today we're just chillin' at the hotel," Leo said. "Where are you going, man? Have a drink with us!"

"Nah, I have something to do. I'll meet you here for lunch at two."

"Sure."

I went out of the café. Then I looked back in like a spy. I saw Annabeth standing there, watching our table. Then the kitchen manager came to her and said something. By my impressive lip reading skills, I'm sure the manager said "Your shift is over." Annabeth nodded and walked out of the café. I quickly hid behind a tree as she came near me. Then I realized that I would be seen.

So I climbed the tree.

She came beneath the tree, and I shifted a little. A leaf fell on her nose. Her confused expression was so cute that I felt like laughing. She looked up and all urges to laugh ceased at once. "What are you doing up there?" she asked me.

"I—I was trying to play a prank. On my friends," I said sheepishly.

"Oh," she laughed. "I thought you were stalking me!"

I turned red. "Why would I do that?" I said. "Anyway, see ya around."

"Bye!" she said and went out the gate.

I sighed in relief. This was stupid. Why was I attempting to follow her? But I steeled myself and went after her. I took a whole branch for camouflage. I followed out into the street. She looked behind her suddenly, for some reason. I panicked and used the branch to cover up my face. But she didn't look my way at all. "Phew!" I whispered to myself.

Then I followed her again. She took a taxi. I took one too. "Follow that taxi," I told the driver.

He looked confused, but obeyed. Annabeth went into the 'dirty' part of Manhattan. Prostitutes. And black markets. What was she doing in a place like this? The taxi halted to stop near a shop called 'Black's Antiques'.

She went inside.

So did I.

She went to the back of the store. I hid behind a stack of Persian rugs. Which were obviously, fake.

She took a small bracelet from her pocket and put in on a rack of bracelets near the back of the store. Then she took out a few necklaces from her pocket. "I got them," she whispered to the grubby looking shopkeeper.

"That's good. But only this much? I want more!" she said, half shouting.

"I brought it the best I could," Annabeth said quietly. "I'll try more the next time."

"You better."

Then Annabeth came to the rugs. Quickly, I moved under the rugs. Unfortunately, she came and sat on the rugs.

"Oh god!" I groaned. "Please no!" I was going to suffocate to death. Of course, Annabeth did not hear anything and settled more comfortably into the blankets. Down below in the blankets, my expression was probably like someone puking. I squirmed a little.

Unfortunately, the blankets tilted over and Annabeth fell to the floor. "What the fuck?" she said, lying on the ground. I lay very still, praying to the gods that I would not be seen, that I would not be found out. And I wasn't. But she hit the blankets and finally sat down. I let my breath out. At that moment, the shopkeeper lady's voice rang out. "Annabeth, get down. There's a customer."

Groaning, Annabeth stood up. A dirty looking, alcohol reeking man came. "I want one of those rugs," he growled.

Oh no, I thought. Anything but these rugs. "Have a look at them," said the lady.

He came over. Annabeth moved away to the front of the shop. I couldn't lose Annabeth. I made my decision in a split second. The lady wasn't looking here. I got up, overturned the rags and sprinted out. "Get him!" the man hollered.

"Who?" the lady said, but I was already out the door. I saw Annabeth going out the alley. I raced after her. This would be hilarious, if it wouldn't be for my imminent need to go after Annabeth. I knew it was my fault from the start. I caught my breath when I was around ten to twenty meters away from her.

Then I realized that I had dragged a rug from the shop to here. I grabbed at it and spread it out. Unfortunately, the wind blew and the rug flew out, and it it flew from my hands. The wind was strong and the rug hit Annabeth. This time, the only hiding place was a small alcove between walls in that dark and dank alley. The people were looking at me and Annabeth weirdly.

As soon as the rug hit her she turned around. She looked around. She saw no one, and I breathed easily again. I had learnt something today. I was _not_ James Bond, agent 007. She went on, and I went on following her. She then took a taxi. I also took one. This time, she went to one of the poshest, coast side areas in town and got down. I did too.

The area was bright, and the sea breeze hit me. I loved the sea. My dad had been a sailor. The genes of the sea had come into my body, and I knew the sea, the way anybody would know their child.

The street was lively, the air was filled with smells of food. My insides grumbled and I checked my watch. I had missed my lunch. But I didn't care. This time Annabeth stopped in front of an antique store, too. She went inside. Over here the antiques were probably real. I went inside the store. There was no real hiding place. There was an urn type thingie right in the middle of the store. I dove right inside it. She went to the back of the store and I came out of it.

Luckily no one had noticed.

I was sneaking around the urn when I suddenly came face to face with Annabeth. "Mr. Jackson?" she said in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking at this urn!" I exclaimed, searching for an excuse the fiftieth time that day. "I collect them! I really, really want to buy it."

"Really? It's my favorite too!" Annabeth said excited. "But it's too expensive for me. It's 7000 dollars. I heard it's from Egypt."

"Allow me to buy it for you," I offered. "I'd be delighted if you'd have it."

"No, I couldn't," she said, blushing. "Why?"

"Why what?" I said.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" she said, staring up to me.

"Because I want to be," I said, looking back at those beautiful eyes. "I want to buy it for you. You know more about it than I do."

"Well—I— oh alright," she relented. "But I don't know anything about you except for the fact that you're a world famous soccer star. Tell me about yourself."

"No, you tell me yourself first," I said to her.

"Well," she said. "I'm Annabeth. I'm not exactly on stable economy, so I work as a night waitress and caretaker in your hotel. I love history and books. I'm trying to raise money for architecture, my favorite subject."

I had no idea that such dreams exist. The poor people that had such dreams. No wonder this urn seemed a fantasy to her. "I'm a good swimmer and I love the sea," I told her. "I'm not too good with books, though."

"Oh, that's okay," she said. "And call me Annabeth."

"I'm Percy. Mr. Jackson sounds old." I was trying not to punch the air and scream on the top of my lungs. But I didn't know why I wanted to do that.

"Well, Percy, I'm actually your fan. Just like the rest of the world, I absolutely loved that goal you scored. I was voting for Germany," Annabeth said grinning. "I never thought you would be this nice."

"Hey!" I said pretending to be hurt. "I knew you would be nice the first time I saw you."

"Well, what can I say? I ended up in an elevator with the German team and I was crushed against their captain who also scored the only lucky goal for Germany. That would be intimidating," Annabeth countered.

"Hey Annabeth?" I told her. "You don't have to talk to me as if I'm famous. Talk to me like you would to a normal person."

"You find a topic, then! I'm horrible with such things!" Annabeth said, throwing up her hands.

"Fine, I'm great at such things. So, to be friends we have to get into the deep stuff," I said.

"The deep stuff?" said Annabeth, laughing. "Uh-oh. Like what?"

"Like…." I said, at a loss of words. "Like….what's your favorite color?"

"Oh no, now you've really crossed the line," Annabeth said. "It's sky blue, though."

"Mine's sea green."

I ended up buying the urn for her. Then I bade her good bye and started to the hotel. I would surely see her at the hotel at dinner.

I went up to the café, because by the time I got there, it was already dinner time. I waited on the sofa, because I was three minutes early. "Hey, Percy. Anything I can get you or are we waiting for your doofus friends again?"

"The last one," I said. The way her eyes looked at me made my heart skip a beat.

"Hey Percy!' said Nico, coming over to sit. Then came the whole team. That always happened. First one person would sneak up on you then the rest of the team would follow.

"Hi guys," I said.

Leo saw Annabeth and made suggestive eye gestures. I rolled my eyes and sighed at his immaturity. Travis and Connor joined in. Not in rolling their eyes. Making suggestive gestures. I felt like laughing at them and punching them in the nose. I decided I should introduce them to Annabeth anyways. "Guys, this Annabeth. Annabeth, that's my team."

"Pleased to meet you, my lady," said Connor.

"Yes, very pleased. Please ignore my idiot brother," said Travis, bowing.

"Very, very, very, awe-struck to meet you, my sister in law," said Leo. I promptly choked on my water and I coughed.

"Shut up, Leo," said Jason. "Just say hi to the poor girl."

"Ignore them," said Beckendorf. "I'm Beckendorf, and this is Nico."

"Hey," Nico greeted.

"By the way," Annabeth said. "How was your prank? Were you guys pranked?"

"No,' said Leo, confused. "Why would we be pranked? And who would we be pranked by?"

"Didn't Percy prank you?' Annabeth said, confused herself now.

"No, what are you talking about?" Jason asked.

Annabeth looked at me. I looked back at her and said, "I was trying to. But then I got caught."

Leo opened his mouth. I shot him and the others warning looks. They got the general idea and nodded. Travis even said, "We were too smart to be pranked by him."

"I know, right?" Annabeth said. "He is a little dumb."

"Hey!" I said. "I'm not dumb!"

"Anyway," Annabeth cleared her throat. "I guess I should take your orders?"

"Uh..yes…" I said.

Jason ordered for all of us, and then it was the questioning session.

"Ok, Percy, what is going on?' asked Nico. "You missed the lunch, you refused an opportunity to come and chill with us, there's something about a prank going on, you're friends with our waitress and—"

"You're missing 7000 dollars from your wallet, man," said Travis, waving my wallet in my face.

"I—hey, what are you doing with my wallet?" I said, checking my back pocket. "How did you get that? You're sitting opposite me!"

"Never," said Connor.

"Ever," said Travis.

"Underestimate the power of the brain," said Travis and Connor together.

I rolled my eyes again. Note to self: never carry around a wallet when the twins are there. They're like thieving masterminds. "Guys, my wallet," I said, trying to sound threatening.

"Hey, guys, give him the wallet on one condition," said Leo.

"What's that?' asked Travis.

"Only if he tells us what is going on," said Leo with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"I agree!" burst out Nico.

"Me too!" exclaimed Beckendorf.

"Okay, then guys, keep the money, and I'll keep my secret," I said.

They all looked at me stunned. We all told each other all our secrets. It was an unwritten rule, unwritten protocol. That was how we were united. Our ties were beyond football. I had no idea why I didn't feel like telling them. This wasn't anything private. Hell, I wasn't even good friends with Annabeth. Looking at all of them, I knew that I had hurt them.

"I was joking, guys. Lighten up," I said lightly. "When would I ever not tell you guys anything?"

They all laughed and finally the thick air disappeared. After dinner, I told them everything. There was dead silence when I had finished. For some reason everyone was quiet. Dead silence.

"Don't you realize it, Percy?" Said frank, who had been quiet most of the time. In fact, he never spoke much. But he was our family all the same. They were half of my family, since I didn't have the other half. My dad had died when I was only a baby. I had only known my mom.

"Realize what?" I mumbled.

"Seriously, how can he not realize it?" asked Leo in wonder.

"Really, you're the one to say that," Jason said. "It took you seven weeks."

"And it took you nine years."

"Shut up."

"HA!"

"Leo, what don't I realize?" I said.

"You don't realize that you're—"

"Leo!" Jason said. "He'll figure it out himself. Come on Percy, it's very rare but it has happened to you."

"He's right," said Beckendorf. "It happened to me too."

"In fact, no, it crept up on me," said Jason. "But I guess it had to be different in Percy's case."

"Okay, why are you guys all talking about yourselves as if you've recovered from some disease? And why do I have that disease?"

"He really is thick," said Frank. "Leave it guys, I'm telling him." There were murmurs of protest all around him. "No, seriously, he'll never get it. Percy, I was talking about me and Hazel."

"And I was talking about Leo and Calypso," said Jason. "And also about me and Piper."

"And I was talking about me and Katie," said Travis.

"I have no girlfriend, as I don't want that disease," said Connor.

"I was talking about me and Silena," said Beckendorf.

"And I was talking about me and Thalia," said Nico.

"What do all your girlfriends have to do with my weird day about Annabeth?' I said, feeling like this was the world's hardest math problem.

"Oh gods, I can't believe it, he's calling this a weird day," said Nico.

"Damn it!" Jason said. "Percy, you are clueless and dumb."

"Can someone please tell me what's going on?" I said, on the verge of suicide due to exasperation.

"Fine," said Jason.

I felt chilled to the bone by the tone of his voice. The words hit me with such force of realization that I couldn't believe it. He sounded all-knowing and about a thousand years when he said those three words.

"You're in love. Love at first sight."

I knew it. I knew it was true.

_**That was Percy's happy realization day! I know! How could someone be so clueless? Well, maybe, sort of. My first fanfic so I'm looking for positive criticism and reviews! Please review! And feel free to check out my other stories.**_


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